Information about Your Appointment

Please check on your appointment card that your appointment is for the Outpatient Department at Thomas Linacre Centre and not at Leigh Infirmary.

• What to bring with you to your appointment

  Your appointment card or letter
  Details of any medicines or tablets you are taking
  Any samples that have been requested e.g. urine
  Any questionnaires you have been asked to fill in prior to your appointment
  Money for prescriptions, refreshments and car parking
  Proof of exemption from prescription charges
  A list of any questions
  Proof of UK Residency e.g. medical card, passport, UK driving licence

• Arriving for your outpatient appointment

  Your outpatient appointment letter will detail which suite you need to report to. Please book in at the reception desk on this suite where your details like name and address, GP and next of kin will be checked. You will be asked to sit in the waiting room until you are called by a nurse or volunteer for your appointment.

  The hospital has an appointment system, so arriving early may not mean that you will be seen sooner. There are usually several doctors and clinics running in the same area so other patients may appear to have the same appointment time as you.
  
  We always try to make sure that you are seen by the doctor as near to the time of your appointment as possible. A notice board will display which clinics are running on this suite and will indicate any delays, please make staff aware if you have been in the waiting room for an unreasonable length of time.
  
  At your appointment, you may need to have blood tests or X-Rays. This means that you may have to spend longer at the Outpatient Centre.

• Have your details changed?

  If you personal details have changed in any way since your last visit, please inform the Patient Administration Staff when you attend for your next appointment. Please also ensure you inform your GP.

• When you see the doctor

  You may be seen by the named consultant on your appointment letter or another clinician who works on the consultant’s team. Please ask the doctor to explain anything that you don’t understand, and discuss anything that is worrying you. Any proposed treatment, including any risks involved in that treatment and any alternatives should be clearly explained to you before you decide whether to agree to it.
  
  If you are asked to make another appointment, please book this with the clinic receptionist before you leave handing any outcome forms the nurse may have given you in clinic.

• Training and Research

  Student Doctors or other clinical staff in training are sometimes present in the clinic. You may be asked to talk about your condition with students and allow them to examine you. You may also be asked to take part in research. If you do not want to take part in any training or research please tell a member of staff. You do have the right to refuse.

• Cancelling your appointment

  If, for any reason, you are not able to keep your appointment, please tell us as soon as possible so that your appointment can be given to another patient.
  
  Please call us on 01942 773162 between 8.00am and 5.00pm, Monday to Friday if you wish to cancel your appointment.
  
  If you have not called to cancel your appointment and do not attend, you will not automatically be issued with another appointment.

• Cancellations by us

  We endeavour to make sure appointments are not cancelled but this may sometimes occur because of medical emergencies and unforeseen circumstances. If this happens, we will arrange a new appointment for you as soon as possible. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

• Hearing Aids

  If you have been referred for a hearing aid by your GP, they will write to The Thomas Linacre Outpatients Centre.

  You will be sent an appointment by post to attend for a Hearing Aid Assessment, this assessment will take about 1½hrs. The audiologist will take a full history and perform a hearing test, if you are suitable for a hearing aid you will be provided with your aid(s) on the day or a mould will be taken. If you are unsuitable the audiologist will advise and arrange further investigations.

  The department offers hearing aid repairs on an appointment basis only, batteries are available free of charge. Please contact the department on 01942 774667 for further details.
  
  You can email the Audiology Department at the following address: audiology@wwl.nhs.uk.

• Prescriptions

  The doctor may prescribe new or different medication, they will write to your GP to let them know and give you a prescription to take to the centre’s pharmacy. You will be expected to pay the standard NHS prescription fee unless you are exempt from charges. If you are, you will need to provide proof of your exemption.

• Ambulance Service

  If you require an ambulance to get to your appointment please inform your GP at least 1 week before the appointment date ensuring he is aware of your requirements e.g. a place if you are taking a relative with you or wheelchair access etc.  Please be ready in plenty of time as the ambulance may be picking up other patients on route and may arrive at your house well before your appointment time.

  Please inform the receptionist when booking in that you have arrived by ambulance/car.
  Be prepared to wait to be taken home as the ambulance staff may be busy elsewhere and may have to wait for other patients.  Inform the volunteer’s desk if you have been waiting an unreasonable length of time.

• Interpreter Service

  An interpreter service is provided for patients whose first language is not English. If you have a relative or friend who may require this service could you please telephone 01942 774775 before the appointment date to ensure an interpreter is available. The GP, when referring the patient, may have already requested the service.

• Infection Control

  A dispenser containing a disinfecting hand gel is sited on the wall near the volunteers desk and in all areas as well as when you enter the cubicles.  On entering and leaving the building could you please make use of this facility to help in the reduction of hospital bourne infection.  If you have any problem in obtaining the use of this gel please ask a member of staff.

• Smoke Free Hospitals

  The Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a smoke-free Trust. Smoking is not permitted in any of our buildings or vehicles. We ask that patients observe the new Smoke Free legislation and also refrain from smoking in building entrances, a shelter is provided at the side of the building near the staff car park for your convenience.